The Hunter

After making a documentary about wild and crazy man of US cinema Abel Ferrara in 2003, Iranian filmmaker Rafi Pitts went on to make the spare and contained drama It’s Winter, a fable-like account of someone who goes off to find work and leaves his wife and child alone. Pitts’ new film The Hunter takes a man with a wife and child as a subject, but this time it’s the wife and daughter that go missing, presumed – and in the daughter’s case, found dead after getting caught up in a demonstration. Driven to despair the father, Ali (played by Pitts), kills a couple of policemen with his long distance hunting rifle and goes on the run.

It‘s the form of the storytelling that really interests Pitt. He uses blocks of colour in the apartment, careful play on reverse shots so that we’re surprised by the layout of spaces (especially in relation to the apartment block), and a narrative that never anticipates itself – always giving us information as the character receives it. It’s a mysterious and puzzling work, capturing in style and substance the confusion of the character upon whom it focuses.

After being caught up in a demonstration, Ali's (Pitts) wife and daughter go missing, assumed dead. In despair, he shoots two policemen before going on the run. The storytelling and cinematography are what impresses, the plot never anticipating itself, leading to a mysterious piece of filmmaking.